WEDNESDAY\u2019S RESULTHOMEAWAYRESULTGOALSASSISTSMan CityNewcastle3-1Marmoush (2), Reijnders | ElangaSemenyo | ThiawSELECTION \/ ROTATIONTEAMCHANGES FROM GAMEWEEK 24PLAYERS WHO KEPT
THEIR PLACES (+ MINS)OTHER
PLAYERS (+ MINS)Man City6Nunes (90), Khusanov (90), O\u2019Reilly (71), Ait-Nouri (90), Semenyo (71)Trafford (90), Ake (45), Gonzalez (83), Foden (72), Reijnders (90), Marmoush (90), Alleyne (45), Rodri (19), Haaland (19), Cherki (18), Lewis (7)Newcastle3Trippier (78), Thiaw (90), Burn (90), Hall (90), Ramsey (90), Tonali (90), Willock (45), Gordon (44)Ramsdale (90), Botman (90), Woltemade (45), Barnes (46), Elanaga (45), Murphy (45), Wissa (45), Osula (14)HAALAND AND CHERKI RESTED<\/p>\n
With a two-goal advantage from the first leg, Pep Guardiola was able to give Erling Haaland (\u00a315.0m) and Rayan Cherki (\u00a36.6m) a good breather ahead of their crunch match against Liverpool on Sunday. Both began the midweek tie on the bench.<\/p>\n
Marc Guehi (\u00a35.2m) will also be back in starting XI contention in Gameweek 25. His absence against Newcastle was down to being ineligible, due to having signed for City after the semi-final first leg had already been played (he will also miss the final).\u00a0<\/p>\n
SEMENYO AND MARMOUSH SHINE<\/p>\n
Antoine Semenyo (\u00a37.8m) did start, however, and was effective in City\u2019s front line, producing the cross that led to Omar Marmoush\u2019s (\u00a38.3m) second goal. His run also led to Tijjani Reijnders (\u00a35.1m) sweeping home City\u2019s third.<\/p>\n
Having started every domestic match since arriving at the club, it is hard to imagine Guardiola leaving out Semenyo, the game\u2019s highest scoring midfielder, for the trip to Anfield \u2013 not least because he has already scored against them this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Marmoush\u2019s two goals served as a reminder to us all, and Pep, that he has an excellent forward waiting in the wings should the Spaniard finally lose patience with the out-of-sorts Haaland. The Egyptian had five of Newcastle\u2019s five shots, with Reijnders weighing in with an impressive four goal attempts.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe gives us his special quality, that is his pace, his movement in behind, and his work ethic. Omar helped us a lot last season. This season before Afcon, Haaland was [scoring] goals and goals and goals, he played less minutes. But Omar, with Antoine, he made another incredible game today, I am pleased with the work we have done.\u201d \u2013 Pep Guardiola on Marmoush and Semenyo\u2019s performances<\/p>\n
Haaland has 20 goals this season, but only one in the last seven Gameweeks. He had two pops at goal after his late introduction but put them too close to Aaron Ramsdale (\u00a34.8m).<\/p>\n
DIAS FIT AGAIN<\/p>\n
Ruben Dias (\u00a35.5m) did not get on the field but his return to the bench makes City defenders a viable prospect again \u2013 after the Liverpool match, anyway.<\/p>\n
City have kept only one clean sheet during Dias\u2019s four-week absence, and that was against Wolves.<\/p>\n
The Portugal centre-back averaged seven points a match across the six Gameweeks that preceded his hamstring twang.<\/p>\n
BERNARDO INJURY NEWS<\/p>\n
Bernardo Silva (\u00a36.2m) missed out through injury, paving the way for Reijnders to give a strong performance in midfield.<\/p>\n
Guardiola said afterwards that Bernardo\u2019s injury is not too serious but he remains doubtful to face Liverpool.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know [how bad it is]. Bernardo is special. Yesterday he said to me \u2018I feel quite good. I wanna try, I wanna try\u2019, but I don\u2019t know. [The injury is] in a position that is I would say less dangerous than hamstring. It\u2019s another type of muscle in the hamstring position. He\u2019s back, but we\u2019ll see in the next days. He is in incredible doubt for Sunday. I know him, he will try but right now I don\u2019t know.\u201d \u2013 Pep Guardiola on Bernardo availability<\/p>\n
CITY STILL OPEN AT THE BACK<\/p>\n
In an open game, there were gilt-edged chances for both sides. Man City produced 18 shots to Newcastle\u2019s 12, winning on expected goals (xG) 2.22 to 1.33.<\/p>\n
Guardiola said he would have liked his side to have defended more resolutely but commended his side\u2019s offensive display and was pleased they didn\u2019t rest on their laurels to protect what they had.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes [I am worried that we were too open at the back]. We have to fix it, but it\u2019s not difficult to control, I think in the way we played, but what I liked is we started the game with 0-0 not 2-0. We didn\u2019t play to control what we won there, it was completely the opposite, we had incredible pace, we had chances, shots and aggressive with the ball, but the second half [we suffered more] for the tiredness maybe because Newcastle have this incredible attribute, whatever happened for 90 minutes they go, go, go, they have high pressing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to be a little more focused [defensively]. Omar was a little bit more tired in the second half and Nico O\u2019Reilly as well, that\u2019s why you cannot be so aggressive in those positions but, come on, I know how difficult winning the Carabao Cup is, against last year\u2019s champions, and we did it.\u201d \u2013 Pep Guardiola on City\u2019s attacking strength and defensive shortcomings<\/p>\n
Owners of Liverpool attackers may be buoyed by City\u2019s continued largesse. Certainly, if they defend like they did last night then there will be joy to be had.<\/p>\n
However, we can probably expect things to tighten up on Sunday with Gianluigi Donnarumma (\u00a35.6m) back in goal, Guehi and Dias lining up for the first time and Rodri (\u00a36.3m), who made a 19-minute cameo, strengthening the spine of the team.<\/p>\n
GORDON INJURY LATEST<\/p>\n
A miserable night for Newcastle was compounded by an injury to Anthony Gordon (\u00a37.3m), who hobbled off just before half-time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks like a hamstring problem. I don\u2019t know how bad it is but it was enough for him to come off so that\u2019s a big worry.\u201d \u2013 Eddie Howe on Anthony Gordon\u2019s injury<\/p>\n
HOWE CONCERNED BY \u2018WORRYING TREND\u2019 \u2013 GOOD FOR THIAGO?<\/p>\n
The other thing that troubled the Newcastle head coach was the standard of his side\u2019s defending. They found themselves 5-0 down on aggregate in just over half an hour, the tie effectively over.<\/p>\n
Howe, who set his side up in a back five, was concerned.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s irrelevant in terms of what numbers you have at the back, it\u2019s how you adapt that to the game and we were trying to attack tonight; I thought that was quite clear. But you need to defend well, and part of playing five was to try and help us defend well but that wouldn\u2019t be obvious from what you saw in the first half an hour.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goals were strange, they came from individual mistakes and errors. I don\u2019t like the way the goals happened and I don\u2019t like the final actions. That\u2019s something following on from Liverpool, they were quite similar, a worrying trend the last two games.\u201d \u2013 Eddie Howe on Newcastle\u2019s \u2018worrying\u2019 defending<\/p>\n
All of which spells good news for owners of Igor Thiago (\u00a37.1m). They will be rubbing their hands at the prospect of the Brentford forward exploiting Newcastle\u2019s brittle backline this weekend.<\/p>\n
The Magpies\u2019 forwards were not exactly at the Blaydon Races either. Joe Willock (\u00a35.0m) and Gordon missed great chances in the first half, while substitutes Yoane Wissa (\u00a37.3m) and Anthony Elanga (\u00a36.5m) were culpable after the break. The Swede did at least score Newcastle\u2019s consolation goal and produced four shots in a lively display.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are playing every three days at the moment, we\u2019re finding it difficult having played Paris, Liverpool and Manchester City away, that\u2019s a tough schedule for any team to face, and we\u2019re doing it with the number of injuries we have. They\u2019re not excuses, that\u2019s the reality, we\u2019re missing some really big players, and you could feel that with the performance today.\u201d \u2013 Eddie Howe on Newcastle\u2019s injury crisis<\/p>\n
WHY HALL WAS TAKEN OFF AT HALF-TIME<\/p>\n
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